A/N: let's kick things off with Rahyuk!!! no reason why, i just did 'eenie meenie miney mo' and Rahyuk is what i got hahaha

As soon as Sanghyuk learned what the words printed across his back meant, he knew that meeting his soul mate was going to be a horrible experience. He knew that his soul mate was not someone he wanted to be with.

His parents knew that this was coming, had known it since the day Sanghyuk was born and they saw the words for themselves. And yet they still worried about their poor son. They didn’t want Sanghyuk to spend his life alone without his perfect match. But Sanghyuk had decided that was what he wanted and nothing could change his mind.

His determination only grew stronger when he heard the words printed on his back yelled at him at school one day. He felt the words heat up, signaling that they were indeed spoken by his soul mate, and seconds later he felt someone shoving him down the stairs he had the misfortune of standing at the top of.

Thankfully, Sanghyuk only walked away with a few bruises and a broken arm, something the kid who’d pushed him, the school’s star quarter back, found super funny even if it got him detention.

Fortunately, he’d managed to keep his mouth shut so that he didn’t alert his soul mate to their bond.

Unfortunately, Sanghyuk now had a face and name to go along with the title ‘soul mate’ and it couldn’t have been a worse person in his mind. He’d even checked his mark to make sure, praying the whole walk home that it wasn’t true. But sure enough, his bathroom mirror revealed that the words had changed from black to gold, signaling that he had indeed crossed paths with his soul mate.

Kim Wonsik was a popular guy, well liked by most of the school and great at sports. He was also a bully. After his buddy pushed Sanghyuk down the stairs he’d become one of the favorite targets to bully for Wonsik and his friends. A small mercy was that the push down the stairs was the only physical attack from the group, everything else was verbal. Sanghyuk wasn’t sure if it was a mercy or not that Wonsik’s friends did most of the harassing, Wonsik mostly just laughed and watched.

But regardless of the method of delivering the hate, regardless of who said most of it, it all just made Sanghyuk hate Wonsik more, it only made his determination to never say a word to Wonsik stronger.

If Wonsik knew of their connection, Sanghyuk couldn’t imagine how bad things would get. There was no way Wonsik would take the news well. And how could he? The person he’d been bullying for all four years of high school was his soul mate. He’d made his perfect match’s life hell each and every day at school. And that was assuming Wonsik accepted Sanghyuk as his soul mate at all. He could easily pass it off as a mistake or joke.

So high school went by and Sanghyuk said nothing to Wonsik. Wonsik said a lot of things to Sanghyuk, though. Lots of hurtful, hateful things. Things that made Sanghyuk hate himself a little. Things that made Sanghyuk hate the world a little.

It was like a miracle when Sanghyuk finally graduated. No longer would he have to put up with the harassment of Wonsik and his friends. No longer would he have to spend another day in that horrible school where everyone seemed to side with Wonsik. Never again would he have to see Wonsik in the halls and feel the burn of the words on his back.

“Get out of my way,” Sanghyuk repeated several times that day as he practically ran off the school grounds in his excitement to leave, pushing people out of his way faster than he could process who they were. He felt the words burning stronger the farther he got, but passed it off as the words trying to make him stay. They always burned stronger the farther he was from Wonsik, so why should Sanghyuk think it anything different now?

Summer was spent getting ready for college. Sanghyuk didn’t have many friends thanks to the bully target he’d been though high school, so it wasn’t like he had anything better to do. Besides, the sooner he was done packing the sooner he could leave and get away from everyone who’d made high school and life hell.

Every so often, Sanghyuk would catch sight of Wonsik and the burn of the words would get so hot Sanghyuk wondered if it could burn through his shirt and expose those blasted words to the whole world. It all just made him want to leave more. And when Wonsik would spot him and just stare?

Sanghyuk couldn’t get out of his home town fast enough for his like.

When the day came when the dorms were open for new students to move in, Sanghyuk was already in his car and half way to the campus before the clock struck nine. He felt kind of bad for that since he knew his moving out hurt his parents. But they understood why he just had to leave, they’d witnessed the damage the bullying had done to him. If leaving made him happy, who where they to stand in his way.

“Oh,” Sanghyuk’s new roommate looked up when he opened the door, “you must be Sanghyuk.”

“And you’re Hakyeon, right?” Sanghyuk smiled slightly, “it’s nice to meet you.”

“Same,” Hakyeon grinned brightly, already pulling Sanghyuk into a hug, “I hope we can be friends.”

“Same,” Sanghyuk found himself smiling along with the other.

As it turned out, Sanghyuk and Hakyeon shared the same major and thus had many classes together. Thanks to Hakyeon’s friendly nature, they soon made friends with three more students who lived on their floor. First there was Jaehwan, a vocal major who was just as cheerful and loud as Hakyeon. Next came Hongbin, a photography major who was Jaehwan’s roommate and got along with Sanghyuk extremely well. Finally there was Taekwoon, another vocal major who was shy and quiet. None of them were sure how exactly Hakyeon had gotten him to join their group, but Taekwoon was a great friend so who really cared.

Before he knew it, Sanghyuk was closer to the four young men then he’d been to anyone else besides his parents. They all got him and accepted him and loved him. Not that his parent’s didn’t love him and accept him, but they didn’t understand him like his friends did.

Like the day he told them about his soul mate.

“Hey,” Hakyeon commented as Sanghyuk made his way to his dresser to get a new shirt, “your mark……it’s not black. You….you’ve met your soul mate?” Hakyeon rushed to Sanghyuk’s side, turning him this way and that to get a better look at the words printed on his back, “Why didn’t you even tell me?” Hakyeon paused again, actually reading the words and having them register in his mind, “…..Sanghyuk……?”

“I don’t want him,” Sanghyuk sighed, “I’ve never wanted him. Not since I found out what those words mean.”

“But you’ve met him,” Hakyeon said, words unsure since he had no idea what to say, “did you….does he know?”

“Never said a word to him,” Sanghyuk explained, “all through high school, I kept my mouth shut. If he knew…….I don’t want to imagine it.”

Hakyeon just hugged him. The others found them like that and quickly starting to tease them. Then they saw the words on Sanghyuk’s back and shut up.

“What a jack ,” Jaehwan scowled, “I hope he spends the rest of his life looking for his soul mate, never finding you.”

“I know the feeling,” Sanghyuk sighed, “I’ve wanted that for him for as long as I can remember.”

“He deserves way worse,” Hongbin hissed, “he should know that his soul mate is the same person he spent years tormenting. He should know why he has to watch everyone else be with their soul mate while he remains totally alone.”

“But I’m not about to find him to make that happen,” Sanghyuk frowned, “and don’t go find him for me either.”

“That part of your life is over,” Taekwoon voiced, giving Sanghyuk a small smile, “time to let go and move on.”

“Exactly,” Sanghyuk smiled, overjoyed that they all understood.

And that was how Sanghyuk’s first semester went. He grew closer to his friends, he opened up and healed the damage high school had done, and he even dated a little bit. It all felt wonderful and Sanghyuk felt more free then he’d ever felt before.

And then winter break happened.

Sanghyuk had entertained the idea of staying at the dorms with Hakyeon and Taekwoon who had just as little interest in going home. But none of his friends were going to let him do that. In their eyes, he had to go home and face his past. And after enough pestering, Sanghyuk gave in and packed his bags so he could go home for the holidays.

“Hey,” Sanghyuk called out as he entered his family home,” Mom, Dad. I’m back.”

“Sanghyuk?” his mother rushed out of the kitchen and through her arms around him, “You’re home? Oh my goodness, I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk smiled slightly, “it wasn’t the original plan. My friends kind of bugged me about it until I gave in.”

“Ah,” Sanghyuk winced at the slightly sad look on his mother’s face.

“I just didn’t want to face my past,” Sanghyuk added, trying to remove that sadness from her eyes, “I wanted to keep putting it off with bull excuses. But they pushed away my excuses and…..here I am.”

“I’m so happy you’re home,” his mother smiled, pulling him into another tight hug.

“Same,” Sanghyuk nodded, really meaning it, “hey, where’s dad?”

“He’s out,” his mother replied, suddenly looking a little nervous, “he had to get some things from the store.”

“Alright,” Sanghyuk decided to brush off her weirdness., “I’m gonna drop my stuff off in my room, alright? I think I’ll take a nap, too. The drive really kicked my .”

“Alright, sweetie,” his mother smiled, “I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”

Sanghyuk headed up, but before he closed his door he heard his mother on the phone with someone. At first, he brushed it off as his mother alerting his father to his arrival. Nothing more. But then he thought he heard her say a name he hoped to never hear again.

Wonsik.

Sanghyuk almost dropped his bags as he rushed to the head to the stairs, hoping to catch a bit more of the conversation. Unfortunately, he couldn’t and it left him with a lot of unanswered questions. Why on earth would that name be coming out of his mother’s mouth. Sanghyuk just……..he couldn’t think……he just needed…..

He had to call Hakyeon.

“Hey,” Hakyeon greeted, “you get home yet? Please don’t tell me you’re on your cell while you’re driving, you know that’s dangerous.”

“I’m in my room,” Sanghyuk assured him, “I’m good. Well, I was good.”

“What happened?” Hakyeon asked.

“Heard my mom talking to my dad on the phone,” Sanghyuk explained, “and she said his name.”

“His name?” Hakyeon was probably frowning in confusion.

“Wonsik,” Sanghyuk hissed and Hakyeon went silent.

“Sanghyuk?” Taekwoon suddenly was on the line, “what’s going on?”

Sanghyuk explained everything again and Taekwoon made a small sound of discontent.

“What do you think it means?” Sanghyuk asked, “I mean, why would she say his name?”

“I can’t tell you,” Taekwoon sighed, “you’re sure you didn’t hear her saying anything else? Something that would give us some context so we can figure out what’s going on.”

“No,” Sanghyuk sighed, “nothing.”

“I might be nothing,” Taekwoon advised after a moment of thought, “or it could be something. We don’t know enough right now, so just…….act like you didn’t hear anything.”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk sighed, “I guess that’s the only thing I can do.”

“Right,” Taekwoon was probably smiling, “get some sleep, alright? That was a long drive and you headed out pretty early. Well, early for you anyway.”

“Hey,” Sanghyuk laughed, “I resemble that remark.”

“Talk to you later,” Taekwoon promised.

“Later,” Sanghyuk said before ending the call and dropping down onto his bed face first.

He was out like a light before he’d hit the mattress.

Several hours later, Sanghyuk woke up to the sound of talking downstairs. It wasn’t like they were talking loud or anything, in fact Sanghyuk had to strain his ears a little in order to even hear a sound at all. That was kind of weird since he wasn’t exactly a light sleeper. Then again, maybe he’d just been conditioned to wake up at the slightest noise because of Hakyeon talking in his sleep.

Well, talking wasn’t the right word for it. It was more soft cries and whimpers then words. Sanghyuk had gotten pretty used to waking up at one in the morning to Hakyeon’s sobs and crawling into bed with his roommate, holding him and comforting him until the tears stopped. Hakyeon………well, he had a past and some demons that Sanghyuk had no problem helping him fight off. Especially since Hakyeon had helped with his.

Anyway, maybe Hakyeon was the reason the talking woke him up.

Then Sanghyuk noticed the heat from the words.

They hadn’t burned this badly in ages. While he was at college, the words seemed to dumb down the burn to a slight pain. It was almost like they were sulking or something, depressed about being away from the one who had spoken them. Sanghyuk had been grateful for the change, it made it easy for him to ignore the words completely.

If they’d gone back to burning……..

Sanghyuk was in the living room in seconds, glaring darkly at Wonsik who looked stunned to see him. Stunned and…….happy?

“What are you doing here?” Sanghyuk growled, completely forgetting about the whole ‘don’t let him know we’re soul mates’ thing he’d been doing for years. He was too enraged at the sight of his bully in his family’s home.

“Sanghyuk,” his mother sighed, “please, sit down.”

“No,” Sanghyuk scowled at his mother, “tell me what he’s doing here.”

“Sanghyuk,” his father’s authoritative tone clearly telling his son to do as told, “sit. We’ll explain everything.”

 “Fine,” Sanghyuk huffed, taking a seat as far from Wonsik as could be, something that seemed to sadden Wonsik a little.

“Wonsik,” his mother sighed, “he knows you’re soul mates.”

“Since when?” Sanghyuk tried to recall when Wonsik could have learned that.

“Graduation day,” Wonsik said, looking more than a little unsure of himself, “you told me to get out of your way.” To prove his words to be true, Wonsik lifted up his shirt to show the words written across his abs.

Sanghyuk winced. He’d been so careful for so long and one moment of thoughtlessness had undone all of that. He should have been more careful, should have just kept his mouth shut. Then this wouldn’t be happening.

“He came to us,” Sanghyuk’s father explained, “after you’d gone off to college. He told us everything he’d done to you and how sorry he was. At first, we just shut the door in his face or ignored him.”

“Should have kept doing that,” Sanghyuk muttered, choosing not to notice the wounded look on Wonsik’s face when he overheard those words.

“But he kept coming,” his father pressed on, “kept trying to win our forgiveness and favor. After a while, it started to work. Wonsik’s a nice boy, likeable. Rather hard not to fall for his charms.”

“Right,” Sanghyuk rolled his eyes, “nice. Likeable. You forgot to mention a few other words, dad. But I’d be happy to give them.”

“Sanghyuk,” his mother scolded, “don’t.”

“So you’re all buddy buddy with him now,” Sanghyuk sighed, “good for you. Happy to hear that you made a new friend. Can I go? I’d rather be anywhere else but around him.”

“Sanghyuk,” his father sighed, sharing a look with his mother.

“I’ll go,” Wonsik said, “this….this is your home. I should leave if I’m making you feel uncomfortable in it.”

“We’ll talk later,” Sanghyuk’s mother promised as she saw Wonsik to the door.

“I’m not saying you should forgive and forget,” his father said once Wonsik was gone, “but give him a chance to apologize.”

“I don’t want his apology,” Sanghyuk scowled, “it won’t mean anything. He’s only saying it because I’m his soul mate. If I wasn’t, he’d never apologize.”

“True as that might be,” his father sighed, “What if he’s changed? What if he does mean it? What if his apology is trying to fix a wrong, not a relationship?”

Sanghyuk decided to just go back to his room. It wasn’t like anything he said would change anyone’s mind. His parent had decided Wonsik was a good guy, they’d forgiven him for everything and thought Sanghyuk should, too. Sanghyuk just couldn’t do that. He wasn’t at a place in his life where he could forgive Wonsik for everything he’d done. Maybe, in a few years when Sanghyuk was a thirty something living in an apartment someplace in the city, he’d listen to Wonsik and forgive him. But right now he was an eighteen year old college student and he couldn’t look at Wonsik without feeling anger.

Sanghyuk fell onto his bed again, suddenly feeling tired once more. When he woke up, he’d call his friends and get there take on things. Then, with their advice, he’d act.

That call didn’t go exactly as he would have liked.

“Talk to him,” Hakyeon said after a moment, “get closure.”

“I don’t need closure,” Sanghyuk huffed, “I’m happy as is.”

“But you need to move on,” Hakyeon argued, “Sanghyuk; I would give anything for this. For……for those people to come and apologize.  It wouldn’t’ change what happened, but……..I don’t know. It would just…..just help. Maybe.”

“Alright,” Sanghyuk said, wishing he could be with Hakyeon so that he could hug him. He was pretty sure he friend needed a hug right then.

“Good luck,” Hakyeon said before Sanghyuk hung up the phone and headed out to find Wonsik.

It didn’t take very long. Wonsik was working at what Sanghyuk’s parents said was his normal shift at the local coffee house, so Sanghyuk just ordered a coffee and took a seat in a far corner, watching as Wonsik worked.

When he first came in, Wonsik had clearly been nervous. Even more so when Sanghyuk just ordered a coffee and paid without saying or doing anything else. But as time went on, Wonsik got lost in his work and seemed to forget about Sanghyuk until his shift ended.

Then the nervous look in his eyes returned as he made is way over to join Sanghyuk.

“Hi,” Wonsik said after sitting down, “I…..I didn’t expect you to come see me.”

“I wasn’t going to originally,” Sanghyuk shrugged, carefully studying Wonsik for even the slightest sign that he was still the same guy he’d been less than a year ago.

“Did your parents make you?” Wonsik frowned, “look, I can tell them we talked if you don’t want to be here. You can go now and, ya know, go. Never talk to me again.”

“Wasn’t them,” Sanghyuk said, “it was Hakyeon.”

“Hakyeon?” a look of fear appeared on Wonsik’s face for a moment, “who’s he?”

“My roommate,” Sanghyuk replied, “and he’s my best friend.”

“Ah,” Wonsik smiled slightly, clearly relieved to hear that.

“Don’t look so happy,” Sanghyuk hissed, “what? Did you think I was dating him? Even if I was, it’s no concern of yours.”

“You’re right,” Wonsik nodded, “I have no right. No say in who you have relationships with. We aren’t together and after how I acted in the past, it’s unlikely we ever will be.”

“Good to know you realize were we stand,” Sanghyuk nodded, pleased that Wonsik had no illusions that something was going to happen between them.

“I’m sorry,” Wonsik said after a short pause, “for everything I did. That probably doesn’t make you feel any better, doesn’t fix a damn thing, but I need to say it. I need you to know that I regret the guy I was in high school.” Wonsik paused, “funny what only a few months can do, huh? Or maybe it was finding out that I spent years tormenting my soul mate that set me straight. Doesn’t matter what exactly did it, but I’ve come to realize that I was a sack of .”

“Hmm,” was the only reply from Sanghyuk.

“I’m so sorry,” Wonsik hung his head, “for everything. You…….I…….I’ve said my peace. If…..if you want to go…….”

Sanghyuk didn’t say anything else, he just left.

For the rest of his time at home, Sanghyuk made no move to revisit Wonsik. His parents didn’t bring the subject up, but he could tell they wanted to. By the time Sanghyuk was finally heading back to his dorm, he was beyond grateful to be done with them for at least another semester.

Or maybe longer if he could talk some of his friends into getting an apartment with him close to campus. Hakyeon would probably go for the idea, not like he had many other places he could go. Taekwoon might turn down the idea since he loved living with his sister and her kids. Hongbin and Jaehwan were another story, he didn’t have an idea what they would want to do.

Anyway, the trip back to his dorm was normal, it was the actual arrival that left Sanghyuk freaking out.

Seconds after he parked his car, another car pulled into the parking lot, picking a spot at the other end of the area. That wouldn’t have been weird, not when everyone was returning from break, if not for who got out of the car.

“Wonsik,” Sanghyuk growled before practically sprinting back to his room.

He had no idea what Wonsik was doing at his college.

He had no idea how to deal with this.

After thinking about Wonsik’s apology, he decided that he believed the other. It didn’t hurt that he’d called up one of his few friends from high school and asked about Wonsik’s change of tune. His friend had explained that Wonsik had contacted him to apologize as well, that he’d apparently done the same with a few other people he’d bullied in high school. All in all, Sanghyuk decided that Wonsik was genuine, but hadn’t exactly told Wonsik that.

“Hey,” Hakyeon grinned as Sanghyuk rushed into the room and collapsed onto the other’s bed, “welcome back.”

“Hi,” Sanghyuk smiled slightly, glancing up at his friend, “how was everything while I was gone?”

“Pretty good,” Hakyeon replied, “thankful to have you back, though. Nights were…….not very pleasant.”

“Taekwoon didn’t stay?” Sanghyuk frowned, his own problem pushed to the back of his mind in favor of helping his friend.

“Didn’t ask him to,” Hakyeon sighed, “I was hoping that I could manage for a couple weeks alone.”

“Moron,” Sanghyuk sighed, reaching up to lightly rap Hakyeon’s head, “foolish. Stupid. Dummy. Dip.”

“I know, I know,” Hakyeon nodded, “so what’s up with you coming in here like that? Something happen?”

“Saw Wonsik in the parking lot,” Sanghyuk sighed, “wasn’t sure how to handle it.”

“You forgave him,” Hakyeon sighed, “but you really need to tell him that. He needs to move forewords just like you.”

“I know,” Sanghyuk grumbled, “I know. You’ve told me this several times already. I just…….I don’t know.”

“I’ll help you,” Hakyeon offered, “anything to help you.”

“Thanks,” Sanghyuk smiled slightly, “I think……I think I’m just worried about how he’s going to react. I mean, is he going to try making friends? Or is he going to try for a relationship? I just--.”

“You’re worrying too much,” Hakyeon told him, “just walk up to him and say ‘I forgive you’ and go. If he wants to become friends……I don’t see the harm. You might have to talk the others down, but otherwise I don’t see a problem. As for a relationship…….well, I guess you’ll cross that bridge if you come to it. If he decides to ask you for that, then you can turn him down.”

“Right,” Sanghyuk nodded, “right.”

The next morning, Sanghyuk did as Hakyeon told him first chance he got. The second he saw Wonsik leaving his dorm, Sanghyuk walked right up to him, said ‘I forgive you,’ and walked away. He didn’t see Wonsik’s reaction at first, but soon he heard the other chasing after him.

“Wait,” Wonsik said, catching Sanghyuk’s arm and pulling him so that they faced each other, “you…..you forgive me?”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded, “I forgive you.”

Wonsik just nodded, clearly unsure of what else to say.

That was where Hakyeon came in.

Sanghyuk’s roommate was right there, starting a conversation with Wonsik. Sanghyuk just watched, watched Wonsik’s reactions and listened to his words. He decided that becoming friends with Wonsik wasn’t such a bad thing, just as Hakyeon had said. Wonsik was a cool guy, he was funny and interesting. A good friend to have.

For a moment, Sanghyuk entertained the thought of being with Wonsik as most soul mates were. The thought quickly passed, but it had still existed even if only for a moment.

A/N: ok, so this was one that confused me so many times as I wrote it. I mean, the original goal was “Ravi is a horrible to Hyukkie, they overcome it, and end up happily ever after”. But clearly that changed. Anyway, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. Feel kind of bad about all the ‘N’s troubled past’ thing. Not just ‘cuz it’s mean to N, but because it’s so……open? Like, anything could have happened to him and, well, anything could have happened to him.